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MAKING THE GRADE CHALLENGER CENTER 2012 - 2013 PROGRESS REPORT Day in and day out, Challenger Center dedicates our energy and Message from the Leadership resources to engaging students and teachers around the globe. We 3 work to leave an impact on students that will help them find success in their future endeavors. Over the past several years, we have been busy finding ways to deepen that impact and make it more meaningful, while growing to reach even more students and teachers. We have Expanding Our Footprint 4 been focused on being more efficient on a day-to-day basis to ensure we have the ability to continue educating students at the highest level. Delivering on these objectives has not come without considerable Demonstrating Innovation & work and even some challenges, but we have met these challenges head on and continue to celebrate great progress and significant Leadership in STEM Education 6 accomplishments. Education and workforce development are the foundation of this organization, and new technology would give us the opportunity to Recognitions & Honors 8 Scott Parazynski, MD deliver our lessons and fly our missions in a more meaningful way. We Chairman, Board of Directors developed Sim3 – a brand new software platform. Sim3 is a game changer. 2010 – 2013 It is state-of-the-art. It uniquely positions Challenger Center as a leader in Education Technology and gives our Challenger Learning Centers a true competitive edge. Looking to the Future 10 At the same time that we worked to develop Sim3, we were hard at work creating new educational missions. These missions directly address the changes in the continually evolving education landscape. As an Challenger Learning Center organization rooted in education, it is our job to ensure our lessons are Locations 12 robust and aligned with current standards. Our new missions will keep the students energized, excited and inspired. As we evolved our technologies and developed new educational missions, 2012 Financials 14 we also worked hard to introduce Challenger Learning Centers to new communities. Local organizations around the country have committed to opening Centers and bringing our innovative educational opportunities to their students and teachers. We anticipate several new Challenger 2012 Donors Lance Bush, Ph. D. Learning Centers opening their doors in the very near future, and we 17 President & CEO look forward to the day when we can officially welcome those locations to the Challenger Center family. A key component to the success of Challenger Center is structuring the Leadership & Staff organization for maximum effectiveness and efficiency. With the entire 22 team taking accountability for projects and programs, we closed 2012 Challenger Center in the best financial standing the organization has seen in more than a students are decade. While significant hurdles must still be overcome, Challenger Center’s financial footing continues to strengthen. Challenger Center for Space Science Education future leaders and 422 First Street SE, 3rd Floor innovators who will The hard work and dedication over the past several years has positioned Washington, DC 20003 Challenger Center to remain a leader in STEM education, a position we 202-827-1580 / www.challenger.org help advance and do not take lightly. More than 27 years after losing the heroic Challenger STS-51L crew, we continue to be empowered by their legacy and mission. This report covers activities from 2012 and the first half of 2013. improve the quality Financial reporting and donor recognition only pertain to the 2012 fiscal ear.y Challenger Center students are future leaders and innovators who will of life for generations help advance and improve the quality of life for generations to come. Challenger Center for Space Science Education was founded in 1986 by the We are dedicated to engaging and inspiring these students each and families of the astronauts tragically lost in the Challenger STS-51L mission. to come. every day. Challenger Center is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. © 2013 by Challenger Center for Space Science Education - All rights reserved Scott Parazynski, MD Lance Bush, Ph.D. Page 2 Challenger Center Progress Report 2012 - 2013 Challenger Center Progress Report 2012 - 2013 Page 3 EXPANDING OUR FOOTPRINT OPENING DOORS IN NEW COMMUNITIES We’re pleased to share the news that we are working with individuals and organizations in the following cities to open Challenger Learning Centers: Harlingen, TX; Reno, NV; San Antonio, TX; Schenectady, NY; Sacramento, CA; Indiana, PA; and Swanton, VT. These actions are a true testament to a community’s commitment to bettering the lives of their local students and teachers. IDENTIFYING NEW AUDIENCES In close collaboration with our Challenger Learning Center community, we are focused on leveraging our unique strengths in 21st-century skills development, simulation and technology innovation to reach new audiences and utilize our missions to address critical workforce development needs. In 2012, we successfully completed the beta testing of a healthcare industry mission scenario aligned with the sector’s high-priority patient safety, quality care and reimbursement objectives. The tailored mission experience accelerates the development of essential competencies and skills in leadership, communication, problem solving, decision making and team building. It received a strong positive review from our healthcare industry partners. Our goal is to complete the mission scenario development and provide a business/ marketing strategy to our Centers by early 2014. To date, 18 Challenger Learning Centers have joined our healthcare team. The initiative’s longer-term scope includes expansion into manufacturing and other business sectors with significant impacts at the secondary, post-secondary and adult education levels. A NATIONAL CHALLENGER STEM INNOVATION CENTER In 2012, the Executive Office of the Mayor of Washington, D.C., further confirmed Mayor Vincent Gray’s commitment to advancing D.C.’s STEM education initiatives, student career opportunities and workforce development goals by budgeting funds for a National Challenger STEM Innovation Center. This pledge from the Mayor’s Office represents a substantial step forward in Challenger Center’s pursuit to establish a National STEM Center in the nation’s capital. A hub for training, research and development, the National Center will serve as a practical learning center for students and teachers. It will be home to a state-of-the art Challenger Learning Center, joining our current network of more than 40 Challenger Learning Centers around the globe. Additionally, it will be the headquarters for the development, demonstration and evaluation of new educational programs and innovative learning technologies and approaches. Page 4 Challenger Center Progress Report 2012 - 2013 Challenger Center Progress Report 2012 - 2013 Page 5 DEMONSTRATING INNOVATION & LEADERSHIP IN STEM EDUCATION For more than 27 years, Challenger Center has been a leader in STEM education, engaging more than The first half of 2013 focused on putting these new products in the hands of our Centers for testing. four million students in simulated space-themed missions. The educational landscape Challenger Center Known as Early Implementers, these Centers turned on the Sim3 technology and flew the new missions works within changes at an extremely fast pace. New technologies are constantly introduced and the with teachers and students. They are a key piece of this extremely important step forward for Challenger needs of both students and teachers continue to evolve. At Challenger Center, our innovations allow us Center and will continue as the foundation for the completion and implementation of the new software to stay in the front of this curve and address these issues so that we are engaging students in ways that and missions. continue to exceed expectations. This is what makes Challenger Center a leader in STEM education. The progress achieved during the last 18 months launched our community into a future as inspiring In the last 18 months, our state-of-the-art software platform, Sim3, transformed from a conceptual and dynamic as the vision and national goals of the Teacher in Space mission, which created Challenger framework to a beta platform now in place at six Challenger Learning Centers around the U.S. Sim3 is Center. Moving forward, we take this launch skyward, completing the development of Sim3 and the new a significant step forward for our Challenger Learning Centers. It increases the flexibility, value and mission, and utilizing this powerful delivery system to impact outcomes that increase STEM education interactivity of Challenger Center missions; enhances the Center’s capabilities; and provides the capacity achievement and career development. Our team is on track to finalize Sim3 and the first two of four new to expand Challenger Center’s educational impact. The transition to Sim3 launches Challenger Center missions in 2013. With plans to roll out the entire package to our network beginning in 2014, we look to the next level, enables future growth and sustainability, and substantiates a recommitment to the forward to the day when students at Challenger Learning Centers around the world visit and participate educational mission that made us the organization we are today. in a completely new experience. The decision to reinvent the way we deliver our missions could not have come at a better time. Significant The 2012 year and the first half of 2013 were a time of great progress in our commitment to shift the way changes to the technological landscape, decisions that were beyond our control, would in time make our we think about our educational outreach and reinvent the way students and teachers are engaged at platforms obsolete. Sim3 removes that risk and ensures the next generation of students will be flying Challenger Center. Challenger Center missions. Our education team has worked tirelessly creating exciting new missions, which align with the Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core State Standards and correlate with the evolving Inspiring curiosity in the classroom curriculum.
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